Polycrystalline thin films of tin sulphide have been synthesised using spray pyrolysis. The layers grown at a temperature of 350 degrees C had the orthorhombic crystal structure with a strong (111) preferred orientation. The films had resistivities similar to 30 Omega cm with an optical energy band gap (E,) of 1.32 eV. Heterojunction solar cells were fabricated using sprayed SnS as the absorber layer and indium doped cadmium sulphide as the window layer and the devices were characterised to evaluate the junction properties as well as the solar cell performance. The current transport across the junction has been modelled as a combination of tunnelling and recombination. The best devices had solar conversion efficiencies of 1.3% with a quantum efficiency of 70%. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.